A selector is a chain of simple selectors, seperated by combinators. Selectors are case insensitive (including against
elements, attributes, and attribute values).
The universal selector (*) is implicit when no element selector is supplied (i.e.
| Pattern | Matches | Example |
|---|
* | any element | * |
tag | elements with the given tag name | div |
ns|E | elements of type E in the namespace ns | fb|name finds <fb:name> elements |
#id | elements with attribute ID of "id" | div#wrap, #logo |
.class | elements with a class name of "class" | div.left, .result |
[attr] | elements with an attribute named "attr" (with any value) | a[href], [title] |
[^attrPrefix] | elements with an attribute name starting with "attrPrefix". Use to find elements with HTML5 datasets | [^data-], div[^data-] |
[attr=val] | elements with an attribute named "attr", and value equal to "val" | img[width=500], a[rel=nofollow] |
[attr^=valPrefix] | elements with an attribute named "attr", and value starting with "valPrefix" | a[href^=http:] |
[attr$=valSuffix] | elements with an attribute named "attr", and value ending with "valSuffix" | img[src$=.png] |
[attr*=valContaining] | elements with an attribute named "attr", and value containing "valContaining" | a[href*=/search/] |
[attr~=regex] | elements with an attribute named "attr", and value matching the regular expression | img[src~=(?i)\\.(png|jpe?g)] |
| The above may be combined in any order | div.header[title] |
| Combinators |
E F | an F element descended from an E element | div a, .logo h1 |
E > F | an F direct child of E | ol > li |
E + F | an F element immediately preceded by sibling E | li + li, div.head + div |
E ~ F | an F element preceded by sibling E | h1 ~ p |
E, F, G | all matching elements E, F, or G | a[href], div, h3 |
| Pseudo selectors |
:lt(n) | elements whose sibling index is less than n | td:lt(3) finds the first 2 cells of each row |
:gt(n) | elements whose sibling index is greater than n | td:gt(1) finds cells after skipping the first two |
:eq(n) | elements whose sibling index is equal to n | td:eq(0) finds the first cell of each row |
:has(selector) | elements that contains at least one element matching the selector | div:has(p) finds divs that contain p elements |
:not(selector) | elements that do not match the selector. See also Elements.not(String) | div:not(.logo) finds all divs that do not have the "logo" class
:contains(text) | elements that contains the specified text. The search is case insensitive. The text may appear in the found element, or any of its descendants. | p:contains(jsoup) finds p elements containing the text "jsoup". |
:matches(regex) | elements whose text matches the specified regular expression. The text may appear in the found element, or any of its descendants. | td:matches(\\d+) finds table cells containing digits. div:matches((?i)login) finds divs containing the text, case insensitively. |
:containsOwn(text) | elements that directly contains the specified text. The search is case insensitive. The text must appear in the found element, not any of its descendants. | p:containsOwn(jsoup) finds p elements with own text "jsoup". |
:matchesOwn(regex) | elements whose own text matches the specified regular expression. The text must appear in the found element, not any of its descendants. | td:matchesOwn(\\d+) finds table cells directly containing digits. div:matchesOwn((?i)login) finds divs containing the text, case insensitively. |
| The above may be combined in any order and with other selectors | .light:contains(name):eq(0) |